Plea closes case that catalyzed Wellfleet policing protest

The Wellfleet case that sparked a citizen’s petition protesting police behavior and led to the resignation of a young police officer was settled Friday in a plea agreement days before it was scheduled for a jury trial in Orleans.

ORLEANS – The Wellfleet case that sparked a citizen’s petition protesting police behavior and led to the resignation of a young police officer was settled Friday in a plea agreement days before it was scheduled for a jury trial in Orleans District Court.

Jacob Dalby, 37, of 239 Holbrook Ave., Wellfleet, admitted sufficient facts to operating under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and resisting arrest. Two counts of child endangerment and assault and battery on a police officer were dismissed. Dalby was found not responsible for several traffic violations, according to court records. He was ordered to take part in an alcohol-education program for first offenders and to remain alcohol- and drug-free. He also will lose his license for 45 days. The charges were continued without a finding for one year.

The passenger in his car, Lauren Clements, 35, of 260 Holbrook Ave, admitted sufficient facts to disorderly conduct. Charges of intimidating a police officer, disturbing the peace and resisting arrest were all dismissed, court records show.

The arrests took place May 3 outside the Wicked Oyster restaurant when Patrolman George Spirito stopped Dalby’s car and began to do field sobriety tests on him. Clements allegedly yelled obscenities out the window. She also got out of the car yelling and started running toward Spirito and Officer Robert Burns as they were trying to put handcuffs on Dalby, according to a report by Spirito. Spirito and Burns – who had responded as backup -- took the two into custody. Two 12-year-old girls in the back seat went home with an aunt.

At the police station Dalby and Clements “yelled, kicked and banged in their cells to the point where they were both put into leg restraints for safety,” Spirito said in his report.

Not long after, Sharyn Lindsay, a friend of Clements’, started a petition calling for the removal of Burns, calling him "aggressive" and "unreasonable.”

At a June 16 public forum on Wellfleet community policing, about 35 people spoke out about a lack of understanding between townspeople and the police. Some in the crowd yelled out Burns' name.

Burns, 29, resigned June 23. He had been at the Wellfleet Police Department for less than a year. At his former job, as an officer for Barrett Township, Pennsylvania, he had been named in a wrongful death

lawsuit. A U.S. District Court jury awarded $100,000 on July 25, 2013, to Dolores Rose after her husband, Edward Rose, died from a heart attack during an arrest conducted by Burns and another officer. Barrett Township was held liable for inadequate training and supervision of Burns and the other officer, court records show.

Wellfleet Police Chief Ronald Fisette said Friday that the Dalby-Clements case does not bring closure to the citizens’ complaints. The community forum in June was not about the Dalby case, he added.

“We deal with OUI cases all the time,” he said. “It may have been a catalyst, but there was a personnel issue that was addressed (the resignation of Burns). That brought resolution for some.”